Technical My car ate a rocker arm!

Had a ticking lifter noise yesterday that progressively got worse to bad on my daily 64 elky with sbc.pulled the vc to find this.guess the hardening On this one wasn't so great.valve stem appears good.found the broken pieces too.swapped in another one and all is well.any thoughts?

 

You might check the pushrod for that rocker to ensure it is flowing sufficient oil. SBC oil the rockers through the pushrods.

 

I let it run with the vc off to find the noisy culprit and they were all gushing oil.i pulled and made sure it wasn't bent either while I had it apart

 

The part of the rocker that the ball rides on is shiny, not blue, so it was getting oil.

But yeah, sometimes 50 year old parts wear out. It sucks.

 

Thing is I replaced all the valvetrain maybe 2 years ago.new rockers included

 

Change the oil too.

 

I would check guide wear on the valve. It had to be putting big side loads on that stem. Makes you wonder about the quality of the replacements I would check the rest.

 

What brand rockers did you use?
I would verify the valve and/or valve guide are not loose either.
I've seen gouging but a near concentric circle, that's a new one for me.

 

It happens. I saw stock replacement rockers do that all the time when we ran dirt track and had to run stock type rockers. Check your rocker stud and if it isn't hurt then just replace the rocker and change the oil.
They had a bad run of stock style Chevy rockers from the aftermarket. mostly the rocker balls then it eats the rockers.

 

Thats the reason I string the rockers on a wire so that the rockers and the balls stay together.

 

About 5 years ago I had some cheap Chinese ones that actually bent. I thought the studs were pulling out of the head as they kept getting loose. I’d readjust and it would be ok but was losing power. The. I compared one with a good original and you cold tell it had spread and flattened out. Now i only use original or good quality roller rockers.

 

Don't let 31Vicky read this.

 

They are only case hardened, not thru hardened, so once it wears just far enough it will quickly eat right on through it. Case is only about .008-.011" deep.
For the same reason that's why you can't just a take a sanding board and reface the rocker tip when it shows a little wear during a simple rebuild.

You may want to give them all a good inspection, some others may be following it right behind and near failure too.

 

Yikes, my 327 just started making that ticking noise.....hopping it's not that!

 

This is all fake news, Chevy’s NEVER break parts!!! Good that you found it quick. Not that they don’t fail either but it’s why I like a roller valve train on our cars nowadays when they sit for extended periods like they do and today’s oils.


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

Sometimes they break, don't worry about it, put a new one on and keep on truckin'

 

Switch to roller rockers.

 

If you go to roller rockers don't waste your money on the roller tip only. You'd be better off with a new set of stock GM stamped rockers. Invest in a quality set of stainless full rollers. The roller tip only are notorious for eating pushrods, it's a 50/50 chance they will fail.

 

^^^^^^^^^^^
Good to know. Thank you !!!

 

You forgot to tag him.

@31Vicky with a hemi

 

Yep! It’s a SBC.. all kidding aside best are Jessel or T&B shaft setups but u need the guide plate style heads that you don’t have or need for your application.

 

It has factory rotators on the exhaust valves, since the valve rotates they are harder on rockers than standard retainers! You might want to check the rest of the exhaust rockers for wear.

 

What part of Don't wasn't understood?

 

My BB 396 did this more times than I wanted in the mid 70's with new equipment. Always tore down that side just to make sure. Dennis Wells was getting tired - I'm sure - of me bringing in one head......but he knew maybe something I didn't. It wasn't a race engine just a street so I didn't put the best stuff in - just what I could afford. Ran a 1964 SS with a later Muncie and a mild 396.

 

I wanted to say, hey sometimes old shit breaks. But i see you replaced the old stuff. So now i"ll say I'm not surprised. I would rather source old parts and put them on. Lippy

 

Never seen that before.

 

Lmao

 

I remember a notable rocker arm failure. Wife and I were on our way from NH to St. Paul. We were on the interstate in Chicago, that potion that is like a canyon below the surrounding area. Noise suddenly started, loud and scary. Pulled off a ramp that led to a McDonalds and pulled the rocker cover. The SBC rocker center had failed, broken out. So what to do. Good thing it was daylight and wife stayed with the car, reluctantly, and I set off in search of a replacement. About a mile of walking I found a filling station that had a big pail of used "parts" under a bench. Found a used rocker arm and walked back, installed it and finished the trip. Stuff happens.

 

I built a W about 10 years ago and decided to put new pressed steel rockers, Elgin 43, this was the result after about 1000 miles, turns out they were made in the far east CHHHINNA. If I use stamped rockers I use good GM OEM used items.

 

Hemis have hardened chrome plated shafts with bronze bushed forged steel rockers.